


Trembling Hands

by IncompleteSentanc (Erava)



Category: Bleach, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Confusion, Gen, Memory Loss, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-16 23:33:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8121880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erava/pseuds/IncompleteSentanc
Summary: "The end, when it comes, comes swift."Sakura dies in the wrong dimension, cut off from her home in ways no one could have imagined. She wakes up to a new world, confusing and strange - and she isn't alone.





	

**Author's Note:**

> "There goes the ending,  
> It left me in the war,  
> But I tried everything, yeah.  
> I am done with my part." - Trembling Hands, The Temper Trap

The end, when it comes, comes swift.

Her death isn’t an easy death, but it’s undeniably a swift one. She remembers leaping out of Kakashi’s Susano'o, punching down at Kaguya with all her force. She remembers Kaguya looking up, ready to leap away from Naruto and Sasuke’s outstretched hands, only to spot her blocking her path; Kaguya’s eyes (just like Neji’s, and that thought hurts) narrowing in unspeakable rage.

She remembers Kaguya’s hand, the wounded arm already stretched up at her, pulling back to send a stick of bone flying out from her palm.

After that... for the most part all she remembers is Naruto crying.

Crying and _crying_ , his tears soaking his face and making his eyes shine even more.

She remembers his eyes. Had they always been _so blue_?

And Kakashi had caught her, she thinks. He had caught her, and maybe even cradled her? She remembers being propped up against something warm, and white hair leaning over her from the opposite side of Naruto. It had to have been Kakashi.

...Maybe?

It’s already so hard to remember, and that scares her. She’s forgetting _so much_.

 ** _It was Kakashi,_** _he_ confirms directly in her mind, and she frowns a little.

She still doesn’t know why _he_ is there, but he remembers better that she does. Assuming he isn’t lying to her, that is, and she wouldn’t put it past him.

 ** _It was Kakashi._** He repeats, quieter now with guilt and shame.

Kakashi, then, had cradled her as she died.

That was a sobering realization.

Kakashi had held her, and Naruto had cried. Cried harder than Sakura had ever heard anyone cry, without any pride or self control. He’d cried like his entire world was crumbling around him.

 **_Of course he did. He loved you._ ** _He_ points out, quiet and mournful in his own respect.

It was a good point.

Naruto had loved her, and she… she loved him. He was her best friend, and she loved him.

And Sasuke, who had been there too, she remembers. Only… for a while, though? At the end, she thinks.

 **_The very end._ ** He confirms, clearing his throat. Not that he had one, he was only in her head. **_He said you ‘weren’t the deadweight he’d thought you’d be’. I think he was trying to apologize._ **

That sounded like a Sasuke-apology, to be fair, and the thought drags a tiny, ragged smile to her face. It _hurts_ to smile, hurts down in her chest like Tsunade-shishou had punched her in it.

 _Sasuke…_ She squeezes her eyes shut against the pain. Grief, she understands belatedly. He’d left them, and he’d been gone for _so long_ , and she and Naruto had… brought him back?

No. No, Sasuke came back on his own.

Or… not at all. He was simply where they happened to be, in the end. Yes. That was right - he was there for the fight.

 _As usual_ , she can’t help but think with a bit of fondness, even if it cuts like glass.

 **_He said you were terrifyingly strong. He smiled at you._ ** He adds softly. **_Kakashi said you were the one he was proudest of, out of them all._ **

Had he?

Had he really said that? She can’t… she can’t _remember_.

Regret hits her so hard it makes her eyes sting. Of all the things for her to be forgetting, that was definitely the most painful of them. She’s forgotten Kakashi being _proud_ of her, but she can’t forget the sight of Naruto sobbing like his heart had been ripped out? She can’t forget the _sound_ of it?

 _I don’t want to forget them,_ she thinks almost pleadingly, grief squeezing her lungs.

Sakura doesn’t realize she has her fist over her heart, clenched hard around her white kimono, until someone lightly touches her arm. “You alright there, miss?” Sakura blinks her eyes open to see an old man standing there, his wrinkled eyes concerned. She opens her mouth, and only then realizes she’s completely at a loss of how to respond.

So instead of responding, she just stares at him, eyes wide and damp and her mouth closing helplessly.

 _Am I alright?_ She wonders.

 ** _No._** _He_ tells her honestly, and while her memory of him is fading away, her resentment isn’t. **_But you will be. You’re terrifyingly strong, after all._** He says, so genuinely that she couldn’t even take it as a mockery if she wanted to.

“You’re new, aren’t you.” The old man guesses gently, snapping her attention back to him.

_New?_

Was she new? Her gaze shifts past the man to the clean, medium-class houses around them, her brow furrowing. She can’t _remember_ if she’s new or not.

 **_We’re both new to… wherever this is._ ** He murmurs, a little bit uneasily. She looks past the houses to the trees, stricken hard by the thought, _Wrong, they look wrong._

Trees are supposed to be bigger. She’s _certain_ and she can’t remember how she knows but she _knows_.

She forces her gaze away from the trees, only more confused and uneasy now, and looks back at the old man - whose face has softened with understanding.

“That’s alright. You don’t have to talk.” The man soothes her before she can try again to respond, smiling warmly at her. “Come with me, then, dear. I’ll explain some things to you, alright? Those idiots in black never do stop long enough to explain things before they send you poor things on your way.” The elder huffs softly, stepping forward.

She watches him hobble away for a moment, still talking, before she hesitantly steps after. It’s not like she has anywhere else to go.

Or even any idea where she is.

She falls into place at his side, just in time to hear him say, “-name’s Jiro Tsukinagi. Do you remember yours, kid?” He asks her and she blinks.

“Sakura.” She says, but has to stop there, her brow furrowing. _What is my...?_

 ** _Haruno._** He tells her, even quieter than before. He sounds _sad_ , which irritates her a little. **_You’re Sakura Haruno. I won’t let you forget that._** **_I won’t let you forget_** **anything.** He promises fiercely. It makes her feel both utterly relieved and a little suspicious.

She doesn’t trust his word, even if she... can’t quite remember why anymore. Who… even is he?

She remembers seeing him like a child, his black hair and his red eyes, wide and frazzled. She remembers him reaching out, her hand seizing his wrist, and his mouth open to _scream_ -

“Haruno.” She murmurs, a little belatedly, but Jiro just nods like she hadn’t been lost in her own mind for the past… however long.

“This way, then.” He advises cheerfully, speeding up a bit as he guides her down the long, winding road.

He’d screamed and her head had hurt, and then… she can’t remember.

 **_We_ ** **_woke up._ ** He says, back to sounding exhausted. **_We woke up, and now we’re here. I thought it’d be the Pure World, but this… isn’t right… maybe because we died in another dimension..?_ **

“We’re heading towards the third ward - we’re in the fourth now.” The old man chatters at her side and she tries to focus on him, her mind spinning. “The third ward is in the middle of our district, and it’s where all the shops are. Oh, sorry, you probably don’t know what any of those terms mean, do you?” He asks, shooting her a quick glance and smiling apologetically at her confused expression. “We’ll have to find you someone to talk to once we’re there. I’ve been here a while, but I don’t have much experience in guiding new arrivals.” He says a little sheepishly.

“But that’s fine - there’ll be plenty of people there. They’ll help you find a home, as well.” Jiro murmurs, his expression going somewhat sad again. “Though, you look awfully young. Well, no matter.” He hums, waving a hand before he looks at her with another smile.

His exuberance and warmth goes a long way to putting her at ease, and she finds herself relaxing a little even as her confusion only grows with his next words.

“Back to the point - we’re in the third district of West Rukongai, known as Hokutan. I know you’re confused, Sakura-chan, but even so - welcome to Soul Society.”

 **_...What the hell is_ ** **Soul Society** ** _?_ ** The man in her head demands incredulously.


End file.
